The Adventure of the Hammer of Thunder
by jsk
Summary: The crew of the Stargazer faces a mysterious attack by the Romulans


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DISCLAIMER: "Star Trek" is the copyrighted by Paramount, and Paramount  
owns Star Trek and the Star Trek Universe. The following story is   
not-for-profit.  
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The Adventures of Jean-Luc Picard  
=================================  
  
The Adventure of The Hammer of Thunder  
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(c) Jasjit Singh, December 1999  
  
"Fire aft torpedoes, full spread!"  
  
For a moment Keel thought that T'Pau had not heard the order, which he   
had shouted over the din of the alarms and the ruptured conduits, now  
leaking toxic gases all over the bridge. But, even as he turned to  
repeat his order, he heard T'Pau's strained report: "Torpedoes away!"  
She was barely on her feet, but she still manned her station. Most of  
the other crew members lay dead or bleeding on the floor. Only a  
handful of the bridge crew remained on their feet. "They're coming in  
from all sides!" someone yelled in a pitch-high voice, frantic due to  
fear.  
"Maintain your stations!" roared Keel, "Chavez, man your station dammit!  
Get back in that chair!"  
  
He stalked forward. Chavez lay on the floor, blood streaming down his  
face. Keel ripped his uniform arm sleeve and knelt down beside the  
bleeding Chavez. He wiped the blood from his face and eyes.  
"Chavez, I need helm control if we have any chance of getting out of  
this alive. Can you continue?" he asked urgently. Chavez, weak from  
his blow and still dazed, nodded slightly. Keel helped him back up into  
his chair.  
"Helm!" Keel ordered, "Evasive maneuvers, pattern Keel beta seven!"  
  
The surroundings of the ship rocked violently as another volley of fire  
was launched at them. A new alarm began to sound. Keel swung around  
and sought T'Pau's eyes in the mists and clouds of smoke and vented  
plasma that now enveloped most of the bridge. He saw her look up,  
alarmed. She saw him.  
"Captain," she cried, but her voice was almost drowned out, "our shields  
are down to seven percent! If we suffer one more hit like that, this  
engagement will be over!"  
  
The turbolift doors began to open but got stuck half-way. Hands poked  
out and began to pry them apart. Eventually the doors were open enough  
for a man to squeeze through sideways. Jean-Luc Picard stepped onto the  
main bridge. He made his way towards Keel.  
"Do we have warp power yet?" Keel asked, shouting in Picards ear.  
Picard shook his head.  
"The warp conduits have been fused," he replied, "it must have happened  
during the initial attack. We cannot go to warp until we've taken all  
systems offline for a complete repair. That could take days, even  
weeks."  
"I don't have that kind of time, Mr. Picard!" said Keel, as the ship  
began to rock and swing again -- evasive maneuvers. "We're almost out  
of shields. We are outnumbered three to one. We need to get out of  
this situation fast!"  
  
Picard looked around for a solution. The deck was strewn with bodies.  
Some dead, most of them injured. In the far corner, the doctor, Jyresh  
Maxwell, knelt down as he tended to one of the wounded.  
  
"We need to buy ourselves some time," said Picard, surveying the bodies  
all around. The ship was not the only thing in need of repair -- so was  
her crew. They needed time.  
  
Picard ran towards one of the several unmanned consoles, just as the  
ship swung wildly again. He had to swing both arms about to keep his  
balance. He heard Keel yell for phasors behind him. Before he could  
give the order to fire, the ship shook violently again. T'Pau reported  
that shields were gone.  
  
"There!" Picard had brought up a star chart of the surrounding Space.  
He had located something to buy them more time.  
"Sir, we need to get to that behind the planets moons!"  
"Won't they come around in a separate trajectory?" asked Keel, dubious  
of Picards plan.  
"There are two moons in orbit of this planet," explained Picard, "if  
we have sensors, and can detect their ships, with carefully calculated  
maneuvering, we can stay hidden, on the dark side of the moon, away from  
their line of fire."  
"I can see how that might work with one ship," said Keel, "but here we  
are dealing with three Romulan warbirds."  
"There is a chance," said Picard, tapping the controls on the console.  
He pointed with his finger at the tiny display screen. "There is a  
natural ionic disturbance that is located just beyond the planet's  
orbit. It has a refractive quality. We could use it to mask our  
signature!"  
"It's the best chance we have," Keel said, "Helm, take us in!"  
  
"Aye sir," Chavez was looking pale, but he was able to keep his eyes  
open enough to navigate towards the nearest moon. As the Stargazer  
reached it, weapons fire from the enemy ships shot past and disappeared  
into the blackness of Space. Seconds after that moment, the Stargazer  
dipped down and was hidden in the shadows of the moon.  
  
Keel fell into his chair with a sigh. He surveyed the damage on the  
bridge. It was a mess. Keel raised a hand to his head and rubbed his  
temples. The veins on his forehead were standing out with the stress  
and pressure. He tried to calm himself down.  
  
Picard was helping Jyresh attend to the wounded. Chavez had gotten a  
hypospray for his injury, and now seemed much more capable of his  
duties.  
  
T'Pau walked over to Keel.  
"Sir, I have set up a compound scan cycle. We'll be able to detect any  
approaching ships. However, due to their speed and cloaking ability, we  
may have only a few seconds in which to maneuver."  
"Understood," replied Keel. And then, as he looked up at her, he  
noticed that she had a hand clutched to her side, which was now green   
with blood, already soaking through her uniform.  
"My God," he gasped, "you're injured."  
"I will be alright," she said, with difficulty. Keel helped her down  
onto a seat. He turned to see where Jyresh was. The doctor was busy  
applying salve and bandaging the arm of another officer, who had  
suffered severe burns.  
  
Keel turned back to T'Pau.  
"Stay with me," he said. "You're going to be alright."  
  
T'Pau winced. Keel knew he had to hurry. For her, a Vulcan, to display  
such an overt reaction, the pain must be great indeed.  
  
Keel half-stumbled, half-ran, to where Jyresh was crouching beside the  
injured officer. A hypospray lay on the floor next to Jyresh. Keel  
grabbed it.  
"I'll be needing this, doctor," he murmured as he returned to T'Pau and  
administered the pain reliever.  
  
"I'm going to get you to sick bay," he said to T'Pau. Her eyes were  
rolling back, she was slipping into unconsciousness. He was not sure if  
she had heard him.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"They're out there, you know," said Jack, "circling like vultures.  
Waiting for the chance to finish us off."  
  
It had been five hours since the Stargazer had sought refuge behind the  
moons of planet named Koraihai, or Tau Epsilon Theta, according to  
Starfleet databanks. A Romulan warbird had come uncomfortably close to  
discovering them once, but they had quickly swung around the moon, in its  
orbit, and had caught the trajectory of the second moon. In that way,  
they had avoided being seen or shot at again. Repairs were going at a  
furious pace -- crews were working feverishly to get systems back online.  
The first priority was given to shields, and weapons. A second   
priority was given to the warp core. Picard and Jack Crusher had   
helped in many of the repairs and in tending to the wounded. Now, the  
two men sat in the dark and quiet mess hall, staring out at the starry  
sky from their hiding place in the shadow of the hulking moon.  
  
"They won't get the chance," said Picard in reply to Jack's comment, as  
he stared out at the stars.  
"Where did they all suddenly come from?" wondered Jack, "three cloaked  
Romulan warbirds. It was almost as if they were in orbit around the  
planet."  
"Yes," replied Picard absently, staring down at the swirling mass of  
clouds on the brown and red planet below. "It's an uncharted M-class  
world, abandoned as far as anyone knows. Sitting here idly by in neutral  
Space. No strategic importance whatsoever. And now. Well, now, it  
appears that there is more to Tau Epsilon Theta than we had originally  
imagined."  
  
Jack nodded. And then he asked in a sombre voice: "Jean-Luc, do you  
think we'll make it out of here alive?"  
Picard glanced up and noticed Jack's worried features. He smiled and  
patted Jack on the shoulder, attempting to cheer him up.  
"We'll be out of this little scrape in no time at all," he said, trying  
to sound lighthearted and confident. It must not have worked, because  
Jack's brow crinkled, and he looked down at the floor.  
"I'm glad that Beverly stayed at starbase before we came on this  
mission," he said in a very thoughtful and serious voice, "with Wesley  
now, I couldn't stand the thought that---"  
  
He stopped. The silence was ominous. And then Jack began again.  
"Jean-Luc," he said, "I would like to ask for you a rather large favor."  
  
Picard nodded, and listened.  
  
"If anything should happen to me, if I don't make it . . . I want you to  
take care of Beverly and Wesley. Please make sure they are not--"  
  
Picard interrupted him. "Nothing," he said emphatically, "is going to  
happen to you, Jack. Or to any of us, for that matter. We are going to  
get out of this situation, we are going to make it back to starbase, and  
you'll be able to see Beverly and Wesley."  
  
"I sure hope you're right, Jean-Luc," Jack stared out at the stars  
wistfully. "I want to have the chance to see Wesley grow up to be a man.  
I am so proud of him. I want to be there, for him."  
  
Picard nodded understandingly.  
  
"I made a recording, you know," Jack continued, with a bit of a smile,  
"it was when he was born. I thought that, someday when he is old enough,  
if I am not there for whatever reason, he will be able to see it, see me  
as I am now, and know me, Lieutenant Jack Crusher, Starfleet Officer.  
And be proud of his father. I just . . . I just wanted to be sure he  
would know, when he was old enough. Does that make sense?"  
"Oh absolutely," agreed Picard, "only problem is, that holo-recording  
might be a bit of a waste of your time, as you'll be around yourself to  
tell him, and show him."  
  
Jack smiled at Picard's encouraging words.  
"Yes you're probably right Jean-Luc," he said, "but still, it never hurts  
to be prepared."  
  
"Come on, we've got to be getting back. They probably need us in  
engineering again."  
  
  
***  
  
  
Keel looked around at all the weary faces of the senior bridge crew.  
Khalid had just reported from engineering that there was little  
progress on restoring warp power. Weapons were still offline, although  
the Stargazer now had shields. In light of the current facts, Keel had  
asked for suggestions.  
"Any further attempts to engage the Romulans would be inadvisable,"  
said Do'reth Sainor, almost placidly.  
"We can't run from them," added Michiko Hatta, who had been promoted to  
the rank of Commander, and First Officer of the Stargazer, following  
Picard's demotion.  
  
"Our warp conduits are fused," she continued, "There is no  
possibility of warp speed until we have the resources of at least a  
starbase engineering team. Right now we are barely keeping systems  
online with our emergency repair crews."  
  
"Agreed," said Keel, "We can't run, and we can't fight. We need a  
third option."  
"We communicate," said T'Pau, who had recovered from her injuries and  
returned to duty immediately upon becoming conscious.  
"What do you propose we say to them?" asked Keel.  
"They've just been trying to destroy us," offered Hastings, the chief  
of security. "Why would they be willing to stop and talk to us now?"  
"Because we have something that they don't," replied T'Pau, and then  
nodded towards Sainor.  
  
Sainor stood up and walked to the display screen, where he brought up a  
star chart, and eventually zoomed in on Tau Epsilon Theta.  
"Tau Epsilon Theta," he said, as the image of the planet settled onto  
the screen, "or, as is it is often called by the Romulans, 'Koraihai'.  
This is the reason why we are being attacked."  
  
"Mr. Sainor?" Keel was at a loss, "please explain yourself."  
"Certainly, sir. During the past three hours, I have been researching  
the Starfleet database for any references to this planet. It was  
scouted thirty years ago by a Vulcan science vessel, but it was largely  
unexplored. The planet itself is unremarkable. It is mostly arid land,  
and there is little wildlife. There are no settlers, although it is  
thought that at one time in the distant past, this planet may have had  
a thriving population.  
  
"This planet, being in neutral Space and having apparently very little  
activity around it, was mostly ignored by Starfleet for the past three  
decades. We don't have any mapping or structure of the planets surface  
other than the orbital mapping that was done by cursory scans of the  
Vulcan science vessel. So the planet is mostly uncharted. There was  
no value in it, there was nothing 'interesting' happening down there.  
Or so we thought."  
  
Sainor tapped a button and a new image filled the screen. It was an  
image of what appeared to be an ancient stone hammer. Keel was puzzled.  
"This artifact is known by the Romulans as Kor's Hammer, or 'The Hammer  
of Thunder'," explained Sainor, "It is a legend derived from Romulan  
mythology. Kor was apparently a Romulan General, during the Romulan  
Dark Ages, before they became a Space-faring race, and still had wars on  
their home planet, where regions of land were held as symbols of power  
and wealth. There were several fragmented societies, but the strongest  
one was the Romulan Imperial Guard. It was this civilization that  
General Kor belonged to. He was loyal to his Emperor, and conquered the  
neighboring lands quickly. His fame spread far and wide, and he was  
soon feared and respected by many of the smaller Lords."  
"A fascinating history lesson, Mr. Sainor," said Keel. "But, bring us  
to the present situation please."  
  
Sainor nodded. "General Kor used a specific type of weapon during his  
legendary conquests -- it was in style similar to an axe and a hammer,  
as this depiction shows. It was known as Kor's Hammer because he  
carried it with him always into battle. It is said among the Romulans  
that when Kor had his hammer, no one could defeat him. Allegedly, in  
one battle, General Kor stood at the edge of the tallest hill, with his  
entire army behind him, and the enemy charging up the hill at full  
speed, and he raised his hammer and struck it on the ground with such  
force that it caused a landslide, with magnificent thunder from the  
heavens, and killed every single soldier of the opposing forces.  
Consequently, it is also known as 'The Hammer of Thunder'."  
  
Keel was beginning to understand.  
"The Romulans call this planet Koraihai," he said, "Kor's country?"  
Sainor nodded.   
"In the Romulan language, the term 'aihai' refers to 'plains', or  
'plain country'."  
"This planet was supposedly the home of Kor?"  
"The birthplace, it is supposed," Sainor answered, "but no one is  
certain. Kor was looked upon as mythic or perhaps of the spiritual  
world, so he could trangress physical boundaries of Space and time."  
"They think that the hammer is still down there," said Hastings.  
"That is the most logical explanation," said T'Pau. "The Romulans who  
are attacking us may be searching for the hammer, believing it to be a  
weapon that they may be able to employ."  
"If it does hold the type of power as the legend describes," said  
Michiko. "But all those stories were of long ago. Surely the hammer  
can't be more powerful than, say, a photon torpedo."  
"The stories have been updated," said Sainor, in answer. "In the new  
legends, Kor's Hammer was more powerful than any warbird or battle  
cruiser. It had an unlimited source of energy and power."  
  
Keel turned to T'Pau. "You said that we had something that they  
don't," he asked.  
"We have their hammer," T'Pau answered, "or at least, that's what we  
can lead them to believe. Logically, they cannot destroy us if what  
they seek is on board this ship."  
  
Keel mused over this.  
"If it works," he said finally, rubbing his chin. "Still, I'll want a  
backup. Michiko, I want you to prepare an away team. Once  
transporters are online, I want you to beam down to the surface of the  
planet. Look for any signs of this 'hammer'. The Romulans are  
probably already down there, so use caution. And this thing is  
probably well-hidden."  
  
"Aye sir," replied Michiko, and began her preparations.  
  
"Meanwhile, T'Pau, lets see if we can't open a communications channel  
to our friends out there," said Keel.  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Sir, we are ready to begin," said T'Pau from her station on the  
bridge.  
"Deploy the communications buoy," ordered Keel, from his seat. They did  
not want to risk their comm signal being traced by any of the  
Romulan warbirds. So they were going to use the communications buoy to  
relay the comm signal from the Stargazer to the warbirds.  
  
"Buoy deployed."  
"Open a channel, all frequencies," said Keel, standing from his seat,  
"audio only."  
"Channel open."  
"Romulan vessels, this is Captain Walker Keel, of the Federation  
Starship Stargazer. We've been playing a little game of cat and mouse.  
I think that it is time we talked."  
  
Keel turned to face T'Pau. She was monitoring the comm traffic.  
She waited a few seconds, then shook her head. There was no reply.  
  
"They're probably trying to lock on to the signal," mumbled Keel,  
realizing that he had to be more persuasuve. He nodded to have the  
channel opened again.  
  
"This is Stargazer to Romulan vessels," he said, "we know what you are  
looking for on Koraihai. You may as well call off your search. We've  
already been to the planets surface and back. And we've got it already.  
We've got your hammer, the Hammer of Thunder! Kor's Hammer is in our  
hands!"  
  
Keel indicated to T'Pau to close the channel. She nodded and closed it.  
  
"Now we wait," said Keel with a small sigh.  
"Sir, the away team has beamed down to the planet," it was Picard, who  
had stepped onto the bridge with a status report from Engineering. He  
handed Keel a padd. "We had to reroute emergency power and managed to  
get Transporter room three functional, but barely."  
"Very good," said Keel, studying the padd. And then he sat down. "Keep  
a lock on their bio-patterns. I want to be able to transport them out  
of there at a moment's notice."  
"Aye sir," replied Sainor.  
  
Keel had barely sat down in his chair when T'Pau reported an incoming  
transmission.  
"It's them," she said.  
"Put them on," replied Keel, standing again. The audio communication  
that came through was faint and distant, and often interrupted by  
static. The voice belonged to a female.  
"Captain Walker Keel, I am Commander Creetek, of the Romulan warbird  
Champa. Give us your co-ordinates, and surrender your vessel."  
Keel chuckled. "I cannot do that. What assurances do I have that my  
crew will be unharmed, after you have taken what you want from us?"  
"You have none," replied Creetek. "The Hammer of Thunder belongs to us.  
Therefore, we demand what is rightfully ours. Your position in this  
matter is only as illegal possessors of a Romulan artifact."  
"Artifact?" Keel put on his best indignant voice, "Oh now come on,  
Creetek. Even you know of the immense power of this thing! Why, we  
could destroy all of your ships with one single stroke, if we used the  
Hammer!"  
  
There was a silence from the other side.  
  
Keel pressed his advantage. "Now, I don't want that anyone should have  
to die today. You want the Hammer, fine, it belongs to the Romulans as  
you said. We will trade you for it. But we want safe passage out of  
this system."  
  
The comm channel once again crackled with static as Creetek's voice  
floated towards them: "Ah, but then you may decide to use the weapon  
after all. Or keep it for your Starfleet. Isn't that what the  
Federation is all about, thievery and cowardice?"  
"All I'm interested in is the lives of my crew, Creetek. You can  
understand that?"  
"Ah yes, the petty human sentiment. Yes, that I can understand. So,  
how do you propose to effect this exchange?"  
"First call off your search," said Keel, smiling to himself.  
"Done."  
"We can beam the artifact to a specified location, once we are sure we  
are safe."  
"And when will that be?"  
"We can plot a course trajectory out of this system. I can send you the  
co-ordinates."  
"But of course," the voice on the other end sounded compliant, almost  
sweet. Keel suddenly sensed that something was wrong. An urgent alarm  
bell rang loudly in his head. With a shock he realized that this was a  
trap. He swung around to face T'Pau, but it was too late. There was a  
loud bang, and the ship swung wildly out of control. Everyone toppled  
to the floor. Immediately following the bang, the whole ship shook and  
thundered as torpedoes were launched at it.  
  
The aft screen came on and there, looming above them, having risen  
unnoticed from behind them, was the menacing green belly of a Romulan  
warbird. The colors wavered and shimmered, and it looked as deadly as  
some deep sea creature about to devour it's prey.  
"Damn!" cried Keel, "Damn! Helm! Get us out of here!"  
  
Before helm control could respond, the warbird fired again. It's  
phasors penetrated the outer shields, and struck the hull. A brilliant  
explosion rocked the bridge, starting a fire, and singing Sainor's  
uniform. Sainor stepped away from his station, now burnt black, and  
found a secondary station to work from.  
  
"Sir, Michiko Hatta is reporting from the surface of the planet," said  
T'Pau, above the noise of the exploding consoles and alarms, "they are  
under heavy fire from the Romulans!"  
"Bring them back!" growled Keel, gritting his teeth. They were in a  
very bad situation, and he knew it.  
"Transporters are offline," reported Sainor, "we lost most of our  
secondary systems after the Romulans fired on us. We lost emergency  
and auxiliary power."  
  
Keel clenched his fists. The situation was getting grim.  
  
The Stargazer began to move, sluggishly at first, and then picking up  
speed. They could only move at impulse speed. They began to turn, but  
the warbird was directly overhead. Seeing that the Stargazer was trying  
to make a run for it, the Romulan warbird let loose another volley of  
torpedoes. Most of them were aimed at the bridge.  
  
The torpedoes resulted in several hull breaches. One of the last ones  
to hit blew open the ceiling, sending a hail of electricty amidst a  
shower of sparks, flying down onto the main bridge. Falling bulkheads  
accompanied the hail of plasma and electricity, as the bridge crew  
sought shelter.  
  
Keel was directly underneath the rupture. Picard shouted but his voice  
was drowned out. He saw Keel look up, and then get enveloped in  
swirling gas and sparks. Picard leaped forward, but was pulled back by  
Sainor.  
"You cannot save him!" Sainor shouted in Picard's ear. "it's too late!"  
Picard's arm was still held out as Sainor dragged him back to the corner  
of the bridge, where there was relatively little damage. Sainor set  
Picard down here, and then glanced about the bridge.  
  
There were very few survivors.  
  
Chavez was dead, sprawled across the helm controls with his face and  
body burnt to a crisp. A few crew members were on the floor, but  
beginning to stir. T'Pau began to pick herself up off the ground.  
  
Picard was staring at the center of the bridge, near the command chair,  
where the Captain lay, dead.  
  
The sparks subsided, and they were able to return to their stations.  
Remarkably, the comm station was undamaged. And a transmission began to  
come through. It was Creetek.  
"How arrogant of you, Captain Walker Keel," she said venomously, "to  
think that you could steal the Hammer of Thunder, Kor's Hammer, which  
belongs to the glorious Romulan Empire, and simply walk away with it."  
  
Picard hobbled over to where Keel lay. His ankle was hurt, he did not  
realize how, but it pained him greatly to put any weight on it. He  
ignored it and half-ran, half-limped to Keel. He knelt down and felt  
for a pulse in Keel's neck. His skin was charred black, and his eyes  
stared out into nothing. Still, Picard hoped against all hope that Keel  
was alive.  
  
"And then," Creetek's voice continued over the comm speakers like the  
voice of death for them all, "you expected to bargain with it!?" -- she  
laughed, a short, spiteful laugh -- "you obviously underestimated the  
Tal Shi'ar. Oh, didn't you know who you were dealing with? Tsk Tsk,  
Captain. To make a mistake like that. It will cost you."  
  
A tear rolled down Picard's cheek. Keel was dead.  
  
"Now, listen carefully, Captain. I will give you one last chance to  
surrender the Hammer to me. You and your crew will be taken as  
prisoners of war. Your fate will be decided upon reaching Romulus.  
Take my advice Captain, without any more of your Human treachery, and  
preserve your life and the lives of your crew."  
  
Picard stood up. He was resolute. He scanned the bridge. A handful  
of Officers were still alive. Behind him, T'Pau was on her feet. And  
Sainor was manning three stations at once.  
  
Picard asked T'Pau: "Anything from the away team?"  
She shook her head mournfully.  
  
Picard turned to Sainor. "How much power do we still have left?"  
Sainor reached for the engineering station and ran the report. "For  
emergency life support for thirty minutes," he replied in an even voice.  
"That's not a lot of power," Picard thought aloud. "Still, we must use  
what we have."  
  
T'Pau raised her eyebrows and looked at Picard in question.  
"I hereby take command of the U.S.S. Stargazer," replied Picard, making  
it official. "Note it in the log, Mr. Sainor."  
"Aye sir," replied Sainor, wondering if they actually had time for this  
particular ritual. Still, he added the note into the ships log. It  
took him two seconds, and then he was back at monitoring his stations.  
  
Creetek's voice came over the comm signal.  
"I await your reply, Captain. But do not test my patience. My gunner  
has his finger on the trigger, and he is most impatient to finish his  
work."  
  
Picard nodded to T'Pau for a channel to be opened.  
"Listen to me Creetek," he said desperately, "I am Jean-Luc Picard. I  
have taken command of the Stargazer. Keel is dead."  
"A pity," replied Creetek. "Do you surrender?"  
"We will lower our shields and allow you to beam aboard," Picard said,  
hoping that Creetek would agree to his suggestion.  
"No," replied Creetek, "lower your shields and beam the Hammer to our  
cargo bay. Also prepare your crew for transport to our brig."  
  
Picard shook his head. He could not allow this to happen.  
"Reroute emergency life support to shields and propulsion," he  
instructed Sainor, as he walked to helm control. He removed Chavez from  
his seat and gently lay him on the ground. Then, he sat at helm.  
  
"We're going to get out of here," he said, staring at the empty space  
displayed on the main viewer.  
  
"There are two other Romulan vessels 'out there'," pointed out T'Pau.  
"I know," said Picard, "we'll just have to deal with them when they  
become a problem."  
"Power re-routed," said Sainor, "we no longer have life support, but we  
have reinforced shields and full impulse power, for approximately  
seventeen minutes."  
"That will be enough," said Picard, "thank you Mr. Sainor."  
  
The lights went dim as life support was cut. Immediately, everyone  
began to feel the chill. Not long from now, when the last wisps of  
oxygen were used, they were going to suffocate on their own carbon  
dioxide and lie cold and dead, frozen, as the Stargazer drifted through  
empty Space.  
  
But Picard did not plan on that course of events. He fully intended on  
getting out of this situation alive. He set the speed to full impulse,  
and set the course. Then, telling the others to brace themselves, he  
tapped the buttons, and held onto the console for support.  
  
Stargazer lurched *upwards*. It struck the green belly of the Romulan  
warbird violently, sending the warbird off-trajectory. The Stargazer's  
shields held, but everyone got a good jolt.  
  
Immediately Picard tapped the controls again, and the Stargazer spun  
away from the warbird, ducking behind the mass of the moon. There was  
torpedo fire behind them, but it struck the surface of the moon.  
  
Picard turned the Stargazer towards the planet at full impulse. For a  
few seconds, the way seemed clear. But then, directly ahead of them,  
two images of the large green beasts of Romulan warbirds decloaked,  
shimmering and wavering in Space.  
  
Picard blinked. His breath was beginning to become shallow. Lack of  
oxygen. He looked at the two Romulan ships, wondering if it was an  
illusion or of it was real. As if in answer to his unspoken query,  
Do'reth Sainor said, "they're real!"  
  
"This is it," gasped Picard, leaning back in his chair. With one hand,  
he programmed the last course trajectory. Directly towards the monster  
on the left. He set speed to full impulse. He was going to ram the  
bastards.  
  
His finger hovered over the button for a second, unsure. His breath  
became raspy. It was not going to be long before he lost consciousness.  
He took a deep breath, struggling to stay awake.  
  
A voice cracked over the comm.  
"Cease your trajectory and surrender your vessel."  
  
"Go to hell," murmured Picard, and tapped the button. The computer  
beeped to confirm that the new course had been set. And the Stargazer  
sped towards the Romulan warbird.  
  
"Computer," said Picard weakly, his head rolling to the side, "bring  
forward shield strength to maximum."  
"Acknowledged," replied the cheery computer, "Forward shield strength to  
maximum."  
  
And then: "Warning, imminent collision. Warning."  
  
"Override warning, authorization Picard delta one one zero," gasped  
Picard, losing air.  
  
And then he waited for death to come.  
  
But it didn't. The comm system cracked again, and this time, and old  
voice came over it. A voice that was rich and deep, thick with an  
accent he had long forgotten. A voice that sounded friendly, and  
familiar. A voice that had relish for battle in it, and was strong and  
proud.  
  
"I see I have caught you sleeping on the job again, Picard," said the  
voice cheerfully. Picard forced open his eyes, and looked up at the  
main viewscreen. What he saw astonished him.  
  
One of the Romulan warbirds was losing altitude, engulfed in orange and  
red flames, while the other was firing it's phasors at a *Klingon bird  
of prey*. Even though the warbird had more powerful weapons than the  
Klingon bird of prey, it was a massive ship, and moved slowly. In  
contrast, the Klingon ship was small, quick and agile. And it was doing  
massive damage to the remaining Romulan ship.  
  
The image on the viewscreen changed from the battle in Space to the face  
of a smiling Klingon. Picard looked up and nodded in relief as he  
recognized the face of Kempek, son of Dorath.  
  
"Do not worry, Picard of the Stargazer," said Kempek triumphantly, "we  
shall take care of these *patak*. I will send emergency crews to your  
ship."  
  
Picard nodded, and opened his dry mouth to speak. "Thank you," he said.  
Kempek acknowledged his thanks with a tilt of his head, and then the  
image vanished, and once again Picard saw the Klingon bird of prey make  
short work of the remaining Romulan warbird.  
  
"Computer, restore life support," said Picard haltingly, and he tapped  
the control panel, leaning forward, decreasing speed until the Stargazer  
stopped moving.  
  
Then he remembered Creetek. He opened a channel to the Klingon ship.  
"Kempek," he said urgently, "there is one more ship!"  
  
Kempek grinned.  
"Do not worry Picard," he assured him, "we did not come alone. My ally  
from the house of Kaerne is here with me. They have dealt with the last  
ship. The Romulans ran like cowards when they saw the approach of the  
Klingon warriors!"  
  
And he laughed uproariously. As the lights on the main bridge of the  
Stargazer came back on, and the emergency crews of Klingon doctors and  
engineers transported onto the Stargazer, Picard stood on the main  
bridge, wounded, but alive, and joined Kempek in a joyous laugh of  
victory.  
  
  
T h e E n d  
(c) Jasjit Singh, 1999  
  



End file.
